Auction Catalogue

25 & 26 March 2014

Starting at 10:00 AM

.

Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Washington Mayfair Hotel  London  W1J 5HE

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Lot

№ 1159

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26 March 2014

Hammer Price:
£8,200

A fine Second World War North Africa operations C.G.M. group of six awarded to Able Seaman B. Chapman, Royal Navy, who, though seriously wounded in the chest by a shell splinter, continued to man his pom-pom aboard the gunboat H.M.S. Aphis, while under heavy bombardment off Bardia in January 1942: having then recovered from his wound, he sustained a double fracture of his right leg when H.M.S.Chanticleer was torpedoed west of the Azores in November 1943

Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, G.VI.R. (J. 98330 B. Chapman, A.B., R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J. 98330 B. Chapman, A.B., H.M.S. Victory), good very fine and better (6) £6000-8000

C.G.M. London Gazette 29 July 1941:

‘Though badly wounded at his pom-pom, he fought on until he could do no more and then went to the Bridge to report. On his way he passed the Sick bay, but he did not go in until ordered to by the First Lieutenant.’

Bennett Chapman was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne in November 1904 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in August 1920. Advanced to Able Seaman in August 1923, he was awarded the L.S. & G.C. Medal in December 1937 and was serving aboard H.M.S.
Aphis at the time of his C.G.M.-winning exploits on 3 January 1942.

An Insect-class gunboat,
Aphis was employed in the Inshore Squadron off North Africa, more often than not operating alongside her sister ships, the Ladybird and the Gnat, and the monitor Terror - the whole eventually titled ‘Force W’. A full account of the force’s exploits may be found in A. Cecil Hampshire’s Armed with Stings, the Saga of a Gunboat Flotilla, from which the following extract has been taken:

‘On 17 December the
Aphis, now commanded by Lieutenant-Commander J. O. Campbell, a retired R.N. officer recalled on mobilisation, emulated the feat performed by her sister ship in August, but with more satisfactory results. Bardia at that time was the most strongly fortified and defended point in the whole of Libya. The area surrounding the town, which stands on a 350-foot high cliff at the head of a cove in the Gulf of Sollum, was fortified to a depth of several miles with barbed wire, concrete machine-gun posts, flame-throwers, Breda guns, anti-tank trenches and minefields. The garrison totalled 40,000 troops under the command of General “Electric Whiskers” Bergonzoli, a tough and courageous individual.

During the night of the 16th the
Aphis crept along the coast, and at 6.30 the next morning she reached the entrance to the harbour - unobserved. As she slipped inside Campbell was delighted to behold three enemy supply ships lying peacefully at anchor in the west bay of the harbour. Six rounds of 6-inch speedily reduced these vessels to burning wrecks; the seventh round burst ashore upon what must have been a fuel dump, for the explosion of the shell was followed by a huge fire which sent flames soaring skywards to twice the height of the cliffs. Campbell then proceeded to drench a wadi below the town in which troops were entrenched with high explosive, firing a hundred rounds of 6-inch. The sound alone of this gunfire must have been terrifying to the defenders, for each report set off four distinct echoes which seemed to rumble round the harbour endlessly. Volumes of black smoke rolled out of the entrance and were noted by the Terror which was covering her small consort. “The Aphis,” wrote Commander Haynes, captain of the monitor, “appeared to be having a good time.”

Finally, after nearly an hour's bombardment, by which time his guns' crews were verging on exhaustion, Campbell decided to retire. The gunboat was now coming under heavy Breda, rifle and machine-gun fire, and was hit aft by a number of small shells and a good many bullets. But no one was wounded and she safely made her exit into the open sea. As soon as she was clear, however, she came under the fire of the coastal batteries which quickly began to range on the Insect. For a distance of more than ten miles the furious Italian gunners pursued the fast-steaming little gunboat. Campbell returned their fire for as long as he was able, zigzagged to avoid the enemy shell bursts and made smoke. Stationed farther to seaward the
Terror reached out with her 15-inch and aided the gunboat to make her successful getaway. Next day the Aphis again headed for Bardia, but the Italians were now thoroughly on the alert and they chased her off, pursuing her along the coast with mobile guns. For his daring exploit Campbell was later awarded the D.S.O., as also was Commander Blackburn.

With the capture of Sollum the Army of the Nile was now many miles from its base with supply lines stretched to the limit. Lack of water was one of the chief anxieties, for previously there had been a pipeline from Bardia, but now the Italians cut off this supply. The gunboats of Force W proved their versatility by turning themselves into water carriers. Water was brought along the coast in the tanks of the 2,000-ton armed boarding vessel
Fiona, one-time molasses carrier for an Australian sugar refinery, and drawn off into drums which were then taken to the beaches by the Aphis and Ladybird and emptied direct into the soldiers' waiting water carts. From 21 December - 22 December the two gunboats supplied the army with 100 tons of fresh water daily.

Bardia was now the next objective in Wavell's offensive, for the army's advance was in operations staged as I and II under the code words “Soup” and “Fish”. Stage II, or Operation “Fish”, was the capture of Bardia, and there were other courses to follow in due time in the shape of Tobruk and Derna. The main attack on Bergonzoli's stronghold began on New Year's Day with eight hours of relentless bombing by the R.A.F. The following day the artillery, too, began pounding the defences, and on 3 January the fleet joined in. Steaming up and down under fighter cover provided by the aircraft-carrier
Illustrious, battleships, destroyers, and of course the ubiquitous Terror and her attendant Insects, now increased to three by the addition of the Gnat, delivered a devastating bombardment.

The battleships could not be risked for very long close to a hostile coast, however, and they retired the same afternoon leaving Force W to carry on the good work. “I felt a little sorry for them as we moved off,” recorded Admiral Cunningham, “for I knew that when the
Illustrious fighters departed the Terror and her little consorts would have full attention from the enemy bombers and were being left to ‘carry the can’, as the sailor puts it. Sure enough they did catch it, but being old hands at the game they were able to drive the bombers off.”

But the Insects did not get away unscathed. The
Aphis was hit during the retirement and sustained her first casualties. Two of the crew of ‘B’ gun, the after 6-inch, were killed, and a Chief Petty Officer died of wounds. Two awards of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal were made to men of the Aphis for this action. One of these went to Petty Officer Leslie Poore who was the captain of ‘B’ gun. With two of his crew dead, another wounded, and communication with the rest of the ship cut off, he carried on firing his gun to the extreme limits of its range. The dead men had been the loading numbers, and their places were taken by a Stoker and a cook. The second award was made to Able Seaman Bennett Chapman who was one of the crew of the 2-pounder pom-pom. Although badly wounded he refused to leave his gun until he was physically unable to carry on. Then, instead of seeking medical attention, he dragged himself up to the bridge to report the damage and casualties. Other members of the crews of the Aphis and Ladybird received well-earned decorations for their part in this and previous actions, all the awards being made immediate at Admiral Cunningham's special request.’

Of Chapman’s injuries, an accompanying copied Certificate for Wounds & Hurts states:

‘He was a member of a gun’s crew of a 2-pounder pom-pom, acting as No. 2. A near miss of an H.A. shell during the bombardment of Bardia fell close to the ship killing two ratings on the 6-inch gun below the pom-pom and another rating standing beside Chapman. A portion of shell splinter hit Chapman in the right axilla ... shell splinter traversed posterior aspect of right arm at junction of upper and lower half of right humerus, without injury to the bone. Fragment lodged in right chest wall, deep in right axilla.’

According to an accompanying family source, Chapman underwent a number of operations in Alexandria, following which he was evacuated to the R.N. Hospital Haslar.

Having then received his C.G.M. at a Buckingham Palace investiture held in March 1942, he returned to duty with an appointment in the sloop H.M.S.
Chanticleer in the following year, but was again wounded on 18 November 1943, when she was torpedoed by the U-515, east of the Azores - this time sustaining a brace of fractures to his right leg; sold with a file of research, and the recipient’s original Admiralty campaign medal forwarding slip.